Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (World Premiere, Tribeca Film Festival, 2016)

Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four excavates the nightmarish persecution of Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquez (the ‘San Antonio Four’) — four Latina lesbians wrongfully convicted of allegedly gang raping two little girls amidst the ‘Satanic sexual abuse’ hysteria of the late-80’s and 90’s in the US. This bizarre case is the first to be adjudicated under momentous new legislation helmed by the Innocence Project of Texas: for the first time in U.S. history, wrongfully convicted innocents can challenge convictions based on debunked scientific evidence called ‘Junk Science’. Part personal narrative told from the point-of-view of the persecuted and part true crime, the film unravels the sinister interplay of mythology, homophobia, and prosecutorial fervor which led to this modern day witch hunt.